10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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McCollum’s 24 points push Portland past Memphis
By CLAY BAILEY
Associated Press
AP Photo/Brandon Dill
Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum (3) drives against Memphis
Grizzlies center Deyonta Davis (21) in Monday’s game.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Portland is
clamping down on defense and the
effort is leading to recent success for
the Trail Blazers.
The team has held seven of the last
eight opponents under 100 points,
including Memphis on Monday night
as the Trail Blazers pulled away from
the Grizzlies for a 100-92 win.
C. J. McCollum scored 24 points
and Damian Lillard added 21 points
as Portland sent Memphis to its fifth
straight loss.
“Defensively we were able to get
some stops down the stretch,” McCo-
llum said of Portland’s ability to pull
away after the game was tied at 80
with 6:41 remaining. “Noah (Vonleh)
had some big baskets. Big rebounds.
UP NEXT: BLAZERS
• Portland Trail Blazers (10-7)
at Philadelphia 76ers (9-7)
• Wednesday, 4 p.m. TV: NSNW
Different guys stepped up. Every-
body did a little bit of everything.”
Shabazz Napier added 16 points,
while Noah Vonleh finished with 11
points and 18 rebounds for Portland,
which won its second straight and
fourth in the last five.
“The other team was just missing
a lot of shots, and I was just having a
nose for the ball,” Vonleh said. “Box-
ing my guy out and going after it, that
was my mindset.”
Vonleh’s rebounds were part of the
Trail Blazers controlling the boards,
outrebounding Memphis 60-35.
“Crushed us on the glass,” Mem-
phis coach David Fizdale said. “We
finally got our defense activated
again, and I felt like we were back
somewhat looking like our early
season self. But the glass just really
killed us.”
Mario Chalmers led Mem-
phis with a season-high 21 points,
while Tyreke Evans finished with
20. Marc Gasol had 19 points, seven
assists and 12 rebounds, but was 7 of
20 from the floor, part of the Griz-
zlies shooting 38 percent for the
game, and 27 percent from outside
the arc.
The teams were tied at 80 with
6:47 left after Gasol split a pair of
free throws. But Jusuf Nurkic, who
had 10 points, converted a 3-point
play and put the Trail Blazers ahead
for good.
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Oregon signs
center Bol Bol
EUGENE — Center Bol Bol,
son of the late Manute Bol, has
signed a letter of intent to play at
Oregon.
Bol is considered a five-star
recruit and is the highest-ranked
prospect ever signed by the Ducks.
The nearly 7-foot-2 Bol announced
his decision on the Players’ Tri-
bune website.
Bol selected Oregon over Ken-
tucky. He said he had thought
about his father in recent days as
he was making the decision. Man-
ute Bol was a 7-foot-7 center who
played 12 seasons in the NBA. He
passed away in 2010.
Duncan, Stockton
headline college
hoops Hall of
Fame class
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — John
Stockton and Tim Duncan made
their names in college, polished
their legacies in the NBA, and
retired with resumes that made
them a lock for induction into just
about any Hall of Fame.
Hard to believe there was a time
when a precious few wanted them.
Stockton was an undersized
point guard in the Pacific North-
west with competing offers from
Idaho and Montana when he
decided to continue his fami-
ly’s legacy at Gonzaga. Duncan
dreamed of becoming a swim-
mer before a hurricane wiped out
the only Olympic-size pool in the
Virgin Islands, turning him toward
hoops in the ninth grade — too late
for many schools to recruit him but
not for Wake Forest.
Hall of Fame
ballot newcomers:
Jones, Thome,
Vizquel
NEW YORK — Chipper Jones,
Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel are
among 19 first-time candidates on
the Baseball Writers’ Association
of America ballot for baseball’s
Hall of Fame.
They are joined by Johan San-
tana and Chris Carpenter. Also
among the newcomers to the
33-man ballot announced Monday
are Jamie Moyer, Andruw Jones,
Carlos Lee, Kevin Millwood,
Carlos Zambrano and Johnny
Damon.
Trevor Hoffman, who fell five
votes short last year, leads hold-
overs that include Vladimir Guer-
rero, Edgar Martinez, Roger Cle-
mens, Barry Bonds, Mike Mussina
and Curt Schilling.
Roy Halladay will not appear
on the ballot for another year. The
retired pitcher died Nov. 7 at age
40 when a plane he was piloting
crashed off Florida. A player who
dies less than five full years after
retiring is eligible in the next elec-
tion six months following his death
or at the end of the five-year wait
after his retirement, whichever
comes first. Halladay had been set
to be eligible in the ballot sent to
voters in late 2018.
— Associated Press
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson passes against the Atlanta Falcons in Monday’s game.
Short-handed Seahawks no
longer have same leeway for errors
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
S
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
EATTLE — There used to be some lat-
itude for the Seattle Seahawks that if
something went wrong, they had the
skill to persevere.
That margin may be gone. Now, one poor
decision or bad break may be too much to
overcome for a talented team that has been
beset by injuries to key players.
The latest example came Monday night in
Seattle’s 34-31 loss to Atlanta. The Seahawks
were down four starters on defense, had no
run game outside of Russell Wilson, were
careless with timeouts in the second half and
watched Blair Walsh’s 52-yard attempt at a
tying field goal in the final seconds fall a cou-
ple yards short.
Instead of talk about Seattle’s resiliency
playing without Richard Sherman and Kam
Chancellor, or pulling out a home victory to
move atop the NFC West, the Seahawks were
left to answer questions about strange special
teams decisions and whether they must play
differently going forward to have success.
“I think for us, we stay the course,” Wil-
• Seattle Seahawks (6-4)
at San Francisco 49ers (1-9)
• Sunday, 1:05 p.m. TV: FOX
son said. “We don’t waver. I think that we’re
going to have to score. We believe in that. We
scored 31 tonight. Keep scoring. There are
still more things out there. We can go get it.”
Atlanta readily took advantage of Seat-
tle’s shortcomings. Matt Ryan only had 195
yards passing, snapping his streak of 200-
yard passing games at 64, but the Falcons still
jumped on Seattle. They led 21-7 after two
costly turnovers by Wilson in the first 16 min-
utes of the game and held on in the final min-
utes as Wilson nearly brought Seattle back.
“We are a confident group. We know we
have players that can match up with every-
body,” said Falcons’ cornerback Desmond
Trufant, responsible for one of those turn-
overs with a first-quarter interception. “We
have a great scheme, great chemistry, it’s
just a great environment here. We just have
to continue to put it on film and display it on
game day.”
Seattle’s special teams blunders will be
debated after Carroll’s decision late in the
first half to fake a field goal rather than hav-
ing Walsh attempt a 35-yard kick that could
have pulled the Seahawks within 24-20 at
halftime. Seattle believed it had a touchdown
with the call, yet it turned into a disaster when
Luke Willson was slammed for a 4-yard loss.
That decision was amplified at the end
when Walsh’s kick fell short.
“I was happy with everything else that I
did in that game, but it’s tough that the last
play is what it comes down to,” Walsh said.
Here’s what else to know from Atlanta’s
second straight victory over Seattle:
MORE INJURIES: Already without
Chancellor and Sherman from their sec-
ondary, the Seahawks lost rookie corner-
back Shaquill Griffin to a concussion on the
second play of the game. Griffin’s absence
forced Byron Maxwell into a far more prom-
inent role after being signed to add depth this
week.
“It went OK. There’s a couple plays, prob-
ably like two plays I wish I could have back,”
Maxwell said.
Phil Knight’s tourney draws top-10 teams to Oregon
By DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzews-
ki speaks with an official during
the first half of Monday’s game
against Furman in Durham, N.C.
Nike founder Phil Knight is throw-
ing a birthday party and every college
basketball fan is invited.
Well, they can at least watch it on
TV.
Knight is celebrating his 80th
birthday by staging a two-bracket
tournament — the PK80 — begin-
ning Thursday in Oregon. It includes
some of the sport’s heaviest hitters,
too, including four schools ranked in
the top 10 this week: No. 1 Duke, No.
2 Michigan State, No. 7 Florida and
ninth-ranked North Carolina.
No. 17 Gonzaga is also in the field
along with Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas
and Arkansas, schools that are all
receiving votes. There are 16 teams
total, eight lined up in each bracket.
“It’s a big, big, big-time deal for
our program and our fans,” said Gon-
zaga coach Mark Few, whose team
opens with Ohio State and could even-
tually play the Blue Devils in their
bracket.
One big question is whether Miles
Bridges will play or the Spartans. The
star forward is day to day after sprain-
ing his ankle in a victory over Stony
Brook on Sunday.
“By Tuesday morning I’ll know a
little bit more,” Michigan State coach
Tom Izzo said. “Miles is tough enough
to play through it, but we’re not going
to take any chances either. We’re
going to have to see where it’s at.”
Knight’s tournament in Ore-
gon is certain to grab headlines, but
it’s hardly the only tournament to be
thankful for this week. Here are some
of the others:
— The Maui Invitational began
Monday with sixth-ranked Wichita
State rallying from an 18-point hole
to beat California and No. 13 Notre
Dame beating host Chaminade. They
are back in action Tuesday with a
chance to meet for the championship
on Wednesday.
— The Battle 4 Atlantis begins in
the Bahamas on Tuesday with No. 2
Arizona perhaps on a collision course
with fifth-ranked Villanova. No. 18
Purdue, North Carolina State and
SMU are also in the field.
— The Hall of Fame Classic
will be decided Tuesday night when
Creighton plays No. 25 Baylor in the
finals. No. 23 UCLA will meet Wis-
consin in the third-place matchup.
— The Cayman Islands Classic
is highlighted by No. 12 Cincinnati,
which plays Richmond in the semi-
final Tuesday. The winner gets Lou-
isiana or Wyoming for the title on
Wednesday.